Chapter Summaries

The elders debated whether Lu Yuan’s enormous Fire Energy haul should be allowed to set a precedent, while Su Qian delayed intervening after Zi Yan entered the competition grounds. Zi Yan rushed into Lu Yuan’s arms, recognized the scent of her kind on him, and politely asked his name.

• Lin Xiuya questioned Lu Yuan’s thirty-seven thousand Fire Energy Points, and the elders discussed how allowing others to imitate his method could cause unrest among students.
• Su Qian spotted Zi Yan at the competition grounds and dismissed the elders’ concerns by saying they could observe Lu Yuan’s hidden strength.
• Han Yue warned Lu Yuan that Zi Yan ranked first on the Strong Ranking and could defeat Lin Xiuya with a single punch.
• Lu Yuan redirected Zi Yan’s force when she rushed into his arms, while Xiao Xun'er pulled Qing Lin out of danger.
• Zi Yan clung to Lu Yuan, smelled his neck, and said she sensed the scent of her kind on him before introducing herself and asking his name.

Lu Yuan reunited with Zi Yan and revealed that her father, Zhu Kun, had been trapped by Tuo She Ancient Emperor rather than killed. When Zi Yan asked to borrow Lu Yuan’s Tuo She Ancient Emperor Jade to free her father, Xiao Xun'er warned Lu Yuan against letting Zhu Kun out.

• Lu Yuan and Zi Yan greeted each other while most senior students left the battlefield to seek Fire Energy Points elsewhere.
• Lu Yuan introduced Xiao Xun'er to Zi Yan, and Xiao Xun'er inferred that Zi Yan belonged to the Void Ancient Dragon Clan.
• Lu Yuan confirmed that Zi Yan’s father was trapped before Tuo She Ancient Emperor’s cave abode and explained that the ancient jade prevented his escape.
• Zi Yan asked Lu Yuan to lend her the jade so she could contact her father and release him.
• Xiao Xun'er warned Lu Yuan that freeing Zhu Kun could endanger him and urged him not to let a powerful, domineering figure into his life.

Zi Yan attacked Xiao Xun'er after she spoke about Zi Yan’s father, but Lu Yuan intervened and promised to handle the matter. Han Yue then privately asked Lu Yuan for help with a marriage contract to a powerful family connected to the Wind and Thunder Pavilion, leaving him to decide whether to take on her request.

• Zi Yan punched at Xiao Xun'er after taking offense at her remarks about Zi Yan’s father, but Lu Yuan pulled Zi Yan back before Xiao Xun'er could retaliate with her Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
• Lu Yuan told Xiao Xun'er he had his own arrangements concerning Zi Yan’s father, while Zi Yan warned him not to trust Xiao Xun'er.
• Lu Yuan left Qing Lin and Xiao Xun'er with Zi Yan and walked with Han Yue to a nearby open space for a private conversation.
• Han Yue explained that she had a marriage contract with someone she did not want to marry, whose powerful family had ties to the Wind and Thunder Pavilion, and asked Lu Yuan for help.

Lu Yuan turned Han Yue’s request for help with her Marriage Contract into an agreement: he would resolve the problem, and she would pledge her life to him. After Han Yue recognized him as the supposedly missing Lu Yuan, he left her with a warning and planned to focus next on the Fire Energy Hunting Competition and building his influence.

• Lu Yuan made Han Yue an offer to help with her Marriage Contract if she followed his arrangements and pledged her life to him.
• Han Yue realized that Xiao Yuan was Lu Yuan, the fifteen-year-old Dou Huang who had left the Yun Lan Sect, and worried that he could silence her if she exposed him.
• Lu Yuan told Han Yue she could refuse, but warned that his patience was limited; she agreed to belong to him if he resolved her Marriage Contract trouble.
• Lu Yuan shook Han Yue’s hand and left, keeping the details of how he would handle the Han Clan and Wind and Thunder Pavilion to himself.
• Lu Yuan returned to planning his next steps, including completing the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, strengthening his power, and obtaining an alchemist badge.

Lu Yuan traveled to Green Mountain Town with Qing Lin to meet Xiao Yan and pursue his plans in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. After looting powerful beasts’ lairs and persuading the Amethyst Winged Lion King not to attack Yun Yun, he helped trigger growing unrest, and Xiao Yan arrived as the town braced for a possible beast riot.

• Lu Yuan set out for Green Mountain Town with Qing Lin, planning to find Xiao Yan and explore the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Lu Yuan entered the mountain range with Qing Lin and persuaded the Amethyst Winged Lion King not to kill Yun Yun.
• Lu Yuan plundered the lairs of Fourth Grade and Fifth Level Magical Beasts while leaving resources essential to their survival untouched.
• The looted magical beasts grew violent, increasing mercenary casualties and spreading rumors of a beast riot through Green Mountain Town.
• As the town's residents feared an approaching disaster, Xiao Yan arrived carrying a black ruler and spotted Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan and Xiao Yan drank together in Green Mountain Town, where Lu Yuan agreed to learn alchemy from Yao Chen and planned to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range the next day. Xiao Yan later asked whether he was truly a genius, then resolved to challenge those more gifted than himself without arrogance or self-doubt.

• Xiao Yan teased Lu Yuan about clearing the dungeon and compared his slow cultivation with Qing Lin’s rapid rise to Four Stars Da Dou Shi.
• Lu Yuan explained that he wanted to create separate identities, and Yao Chen agreed to teach him alchemy after Xiao Yan described how the identities could serve different purposes.
• Xiao Yan warned Lu Yuan to be careful around Xiao Xun'er, then Lu Yuan confirmed that he would begin learning alchemy from Yao Chen.
• Yao Chen advised Lu Yuan to buy spare alchemy cauldrons, and Lu Yuan said they would enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range the next day.
• Xiao Yan asked Yao Chen whether he was a genius, heard that he fell short of the truly gifted, and vowed to defeat those geniuses through steady effort.

Lu Yuan and Qing Lin went to meet Xiao Yan in Green Mountain Town and found him fighting members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. After Xiao Yan defeated them, Lu Yuan killed one mercenary who attacked him and began questioning the others.

• Lu Yuan ate breakfast with Qing Lin, then left town to meet Xiao Yan.
• Lu Yuan found Xiao Yan fighting a group of Wolf Head Mercenary Group members and watched until Xiao Yan knocked them all down.
• Xiao Yan explained that the mercenaries had tried to drive him from their territory, and Lu Yuan healed his injuries.
• Lu Yuan crushed a mercenary's hand and killed him after the man tried to bite him.
• Lu Yuan warned the remaining conscious mercenaries to explain themselves and turned to choose the next one to question.

Lu Yuan used the mercenaries’ attack on Little Fairy Doctor to teach Xiao Yan how survival and responsibility worked, then revealed that she might possess the Woeful Poison Body. Xiao Yan proposed helping her find a cure, though obtaining the required materials remained a challenge.

• Lu Yuan explained to Xiao Yan why ruthless choices could be necessary, and Xiao Yan concluded that responsibility could extend to those who failed to stop wrongdoing.
• Lu Yuan intimidated the captured mercenaries with his strength, and they confessed that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was seeking a treasure connected to Little Fairy Doctor.
• Xiao Yan condemned the mercenaries for turning against the doctor who had saved them, but Lu Yuan warned that their account might conceal a larger scheme.
• Lu Yuan and Yao Chen identified Little Fairy Doctor as a possible Woeful Poison Body user and explained the dangers of her constitution and the requirements for curing it.
• Xiao Yan proposed contacting Little Fairy Doctor, offering the group’s access to three Heavenly Flames and help obtaining the other ingredients.

Xiao Yan chose to help Little Fairy Doctor before claiming a flight-type Dou Technique, and he set out with Lu Yuan and Yao Chen into the Magical Beast Mountain Range. There, Little Fairy Doctor faced Mu Li’s suspicions as she tried to reach a hidden cultivator’s cave and its treasures without becoming his prey.

• Lu Yuan revealed that Xiao Yan could claim a flight-type Dou Technique, but Xiao Yan chose to rescue Little Fairy Doctor first.
• Yao Chen explained that flight Dou Techniques let cultivators fly regardless of their realm, though their Dou Qi determined their speed and flight time.
• Xiao Yan led Lu Yuan and Yao Chen into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to find Little Fairy Doctor.
• Little Fairy Doctor reflected on how poverty and scarce cultivation methods had kept her from safely cultivating Dou Qi.
• Little Fairy Doctor realized Mu Li suspected she had found a treasure and planned to use her to locate a hidden cultivator’s cave.

Little Fairy Doctor prepared poisons and lured magical beasts toward the Wolf Head Mercenary Group’s camp to escape Mu Li, while Lu Yuan and Xiao Yan plotted to use the danger to recruit her. Mu Li sent trackers after her despite the beasts, and Little Fairy Doctor fled toward a cave where she hoped to summon her companion.

• Little Fairy Doctor weighed the risks of poisoning the mercenaries and prepared a poison to use on herself if her escape failed.
• Lu Yuan persuaded Xiao Yan to help the Wolf Head Mercenary Group’s pressure on Little Fairy Doctor, then rescue her in a staged encounter and invite her to join them.
• Little Fairy Doctor spread powder that attracted low-tier magical beasts to the camp, then fled while the beasts occupied the mercenaries.
• Mu Li rejected a mercenary’s advice to abandon the pursuit and sent skilled trackers after Little Fairy Doctor, ordering them to wait before capturing her.
• Little Fairy Doctor covered her tracks, changed direction, and ran toward a cave where she planned to summon her companion.

Little Fairy Doctor descended a cliff to investigate a hidden treasure, while Lu Yuan and Xiao Yan dealt with the mercenaries following her. Lu Yuan found Little Fairy Doctor in a cave and confronted her about her lies, leaving their conversation at a tense impasse.

• Little Fairy Doctor tied a rope to a tree and climbed down the cliff as mercenaries watched and sent two of their number to alert the Young Leader.
• Lu Yuan asked Xiao Yan to guard the captured Giant Eagle, then silently incapacitated the four mercenaries watching Little Fairy Doctor.
• Lu Yuan followed Little Fairy Doctor into a mountain cave, where she lit a torch and asked him to talk without playing tricks.
• Little Fairy Doctor claimed the mercenaries were guards she had hired, but Lu Yuan pointed out that their behavior showed they were following her instead.
• Lu Yuan warned Little Fairy Doctor that he would end their conversation if he caught her lying twice more.

Lu Yuan revealed why he had sought Little Fairy Doctor and offered her a place as his subordinate, explaining her Woeful Poison Body and the dangers ahead. After questioning him about his motives and what would happen if she refused, Little Fairy Doctor chose to stand with him.

• Little Fairy Doctor asked whether Lu Yuan was human or a ghost, and he showed her his Dou Qi Wings and told her his surname.
• Lu Yuan explained that he wanted the vault's Flight Dou Technique and Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, and invited Little Fairy Doctor to become his subordinate.
• Little Fairy Doctor asked about her constitution, how Lu Yuan had found her, what she would gain by following him, and why he had come for her.
• Lu Yuan revealed that she had the Woeful Poison Body and admitted he had endangered her by capturing her eagle and drawing the Wolf Head Mercenary Group toward her.
• Little Fairy Doctor asked what Lu Yuan would do if she refused; after he described the consequences, she chose to stand with him.

Xiao Yan faced a barrage of crossbow bolts during a training exercise and was badly wounded while Qing Lin waited for Yao Chen’s signal. After Yao Chen told her to intervene, Qing Lin revealed her strength and warned Mu Li and the Wolf Fang Mercenary Group not to move.

• Xiao Yan fought the mercenaries with the Xuan Heavy Ruler while Qing Lin pretended to struggle against a single opponent.
• The Wolf Head Mercenary Group aimed more than twenty crossbows at Xiao Yan, and he called for help as Qing Lin continued to watch.
• Yao Chen urged Xiao Yan to endure the attack, and Xiao Yan survived three volleys but was left with several arrows embedded in his body.
• Yao Chen told Qing Lin to stop the exercise before Xiao Yan died.
• Qing Lin revealed her Dou Qi Armor, killed the mercenary she had been fighting, and warned Mu Li and the Wolf Fang Mercenary Group that she could kill them all.

Mu Li surrendered after recognizing Qing Lin as a Da Dou Shi, then tried to placate her while she questioned why his mercenaries had attacked. Believing Qing Lin served a powerful master, Mu Li admitted that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had followed the Little Fairy Doctor to claim a treasure, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Mu Li recognized Qing Lin’s Dou Qi Armor, ordered his men to lower their weapons, and apologized to her.
• Xiao Yan reflected that his current strength would let him defeat Mu Li, while Qing Lin stood between him and the mercenaries.
• Mu Li assumed Qing Lin belonged to a powerful faction and approached her humbly, but Qing Lin demanded to know why his group had attacked them.
• Qing Lin pointed out the rope and other inconsistencies in Mu Li’s story, then said her master had gone down the cliff and urged him to tell the truth.
• Mu Li pieced together how his four mercenaries had attacked Xiao Yan and Qing Lin, then admitted that his group had come after the treasure the Little Fairy Doctor had found.

Lu Yuan returned with the Little Fairy Doctor and killed the mercenaries who tried to flee, then healed Xiao Yan and punished the men who shot him. He left the fate of Mu Li and the remaining Wolf Head Mercenary Group to the Little Fairy Doctor, using Spiritual Authority to sort them by their past actions.

• Xiao Yan and Mu Li discussed why an expert’s trove was better understood as an inheritance, while Xiao Yan pulled arrows from his wounds.
• Qing Lin ordered Mu Li and the Wolf Head Mercenary Group to wait, warning that Lu Yuan would punish the guilty; mercenaries who tried to escape exploded into a rain of blood.
• Lu Yuan flew up with the Little Fairy Doctor, subdued the survivors, healed Xiao Yan, and forced three crossbowmen to confess before killing them.
• Lu Yuan gave Xiao Yan two Mysterious Rank Dou Technique scrolls, including a Flight Dou Technique, and asked the Little Fairy Doctor whether she wanted the mercenaries killed or spared.
• When the Little Fairy Doctor hesitated, Lu Yuan used Spiritual Authority to order those she had saved, those who had wanted to kill her, and those who had informed on her to step forward.

Lu Yuan judged the Wolf Head Mercenary Group’s mercenaries by their betrayal, killing intent, and leaked information, then let the few survivors leave under Mu Li’s promise to conceal what happened. Little Fairy Doctor joined Lu Yuan, Xiao Yan, and Qing Lin as they entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

• Lu Yuan ordered mercenaries who had repaid Little Fairy Doctor’s kindness with betrayal to kill themselves, and more than twenty died.
• Lu Yuan ordered those who had harbored killing intent to take their own lives, and more than eighty mercenaries died.
• Lu Yuan had the remaining informants cut into a thousand pieces while shielding Qing Lin and Little Fairy Doctor from the sight.
• Lu Yuan warned Mu Li to conceal the encounter, and Mu Li agreed as he and the surviving mercenaries departed.
• Little Fairy Doctor introduced herself to Lu Yuan, Xiao Yan, and Qing Lin, then followed them into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Yao Chen trained Lu Yuan in alchemy, turning his imitation-based Fifth-Rank skill into a solid foundation through lessons and tests. Lu Yuan prepared to seek a Fifth-Rank Alchemist title in the Gama Empire before heading to the Central Plains, while Xiao Yan accepted Yao Chen’s focus on helping him.

• Yao Chen watched Lu Yuan replicate his pill-refining methods after three demonstrations, reaching the upper limit of a Fifth-Rank Alchemist through imitation.
• Yao Chen taught Lu Yuan medicinal knowledge and tested his memory, and Lu Yuan passed the spot checks with perfect accuracy.
• Yao Chen gave Lu Yuan exercises on identifying errors in Pill Formulas, determining possible pills, and choosing workable refining techniques; Lu Yuan passed after twenty days.
• Yao Chen concluded that Lu Yuan had a strong foundation for a Fifth-Rank Alchemist, despite treating alchemy mainly as a tool.
• Xiao Yan understood that Lu Yuan’s journey was tied to the Yun Lan Sect and Soul Hall, and that Lu Yuan was seeking allies and preparing for the future conflict with the Soul Clan.
• Xiao Yan continued training with Qing Lin’s help while Lu Yuan prepared to obtain his alchemist title in the Gama Empire and then travel to the Central Plains.

After Lu Yuan certified Xiao Yan as a Fifth-Rank Alchemist and explained how to conceal Yao Chen’s survival, Xiao Yan reported that Little Fairy Doctor’s Woeful Poison Body had awakened. Lu Yuan blamed the World Consciousness for arranging the accident and went to check on her, leaving Yao Chen and Xiao Yan behind.

• Yao Chen congratulated Lu Yuan on becoming a Fifth-Rank Alchemist in twenty-six days and warned him to rely on rational analysis when facing unfamiliar pills.
• Yao Chen told Lu Yuan which people could learn he was alive and asked him to conceal the truth from everyone else; Lu Yuan agreed and teased him about seeking revenge through Xiao Yan.
• Yao Chen reflected on his past and said he still hoped to reclaim justice himself, trusting Lu Yuan’s judgment of Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan rushed back and reported that Little Fairy Doctor’s Woeful Poison Body had awakened after poisonous blood from a magical beast splashed onto her and Qing Lin was guarding her.
• Lu Yuan said the World Consciousness had likely caused the accident, told Xiao Yan to stay with Yao Chen, and left to check on Little Fairy Doctor.

Lu Yuan arrived as Little Fairy Doctor’s Woeful Poison Body awakened, suppressed her pain, and explained the dangers and benefits of her condition. She chose his riskier path and began cultivating the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture with a spiritual poisonous mist, leaving her first trial underway.

• Little Fairy Doctor endured the awakening of her Woeful Poison Body while Qing Lin stayed at a distance and sent Xiao Yan to find Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan arrived, suppressed Little Fairy Doctor’s pain, and explained that she would face repeated bouts of Myriad Poisons Devouring the Body until she condensed a Poison Pill.
• Lu Yuan described two cultivation paths, and Little Fairy Doctor chose the unconventional route of using specially attributed poisons for greater power despite greater pain.
• Lu Yuan gave Little Fairy Doctor a nameless purple mist whose spiritual power could cause hallucinations and explained that it was the only special poison she could safely withstand.
• Little Fairy Doctor circulated the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture as Lu Yuan released his suppression and sent the purple mist into her body, where she refined it into stronger Poison Dou Qi.

Yun Yun arrived in Green Mountain Town searching for someone, and Mu Li identified Lu Yuan as the Dou King she had been seeking. After learning Lu Yuan was last seen in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Yun Yun flew there at once.

• Yun Yun entered Green Mountain Town and asked a group of mercenaries whether they had seen anyone unusual.
• Mu Li ordered his attendants to attack Yun Yun after she questioned him about recent sightings.
• Yun Yun revealed herself as a Dou Emperor, and Mu Li decided to answer her questions to protect himself.
• Yun Yun recognized Lu Yuan from Mu Li's description of his silver Dou Qi Wings, black hair, black eyes, and unpredictable movements.
• Mu Li told Yun Yun that Lu Yuan had been in the Magical Beast Mountain Range nearly a month earlier.
• Yun Yun flew toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.